How Rapper/Songwriter Ingrid Pulled a Beyoncé on Beyoncé

Beyonce's protégé Ingrid talks songwriting on Lemonade, currently leading the pack in Grammy nominations.

Feb 11, 2017

Beyoncé Knowles is many things. She is a powerhouse performer, arena-packer, and twenty-time Grammy winner. She is a feminist, mover, shaker, mother (soon to be of three!), and to rapper/singer/songwriter Ingrid, she is a mentor.

Ingrid is a signee to Beyoncé's Parkwood Entertainment, and if you are a Beyoncé fan, you may inadvertently be a fan of the Houston emcee too. Before releasing her debut EP 'Trill Feels' last summer, Ingrid worked behind-the-scenes on Queen B's last two Grammy-dominating albums. Tracks like 'Bow Down' and 'Flawless' are dripping with Ingrid's signature southern bravado, and the Third-Ward wordsmith co-penned Lemonade's 'Love Drought.'

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While many assumed the deeply emotional 'Love Drought,' was yet another ballad centering Jay-Z's infidelity, in an impassionedinterview with lyric-annotating website Genius, Ingrid revealed that the song was actually about her professional relationship with Parkwood. Taking a cue from master-of-surprise Beyoncé, Ingrid didn't reveal the true meaning of the song to her mentor until she revealed it to the world. We talked to Ingrid about keeping secrets, Beyoncé's tutelage, and working on one of the biggest albums of 2016.

You were interviewed by ELLE almost a year ago, being introduced to the world as one of three new musical acts Beyoncé was pouring time, energy, and resources into. What has changed for you since then?

Since then, I've gotten to open up for Beyoncé last summer on the European leg of the Formation World Tour, which gave me a great amount of exposure to a new market. I also did a residency at House of Blues in Houston, my hometown. That was special for me because recently I moved from Brooklyn back to Houston, in part to connect with my fans here. I also wanted my family to experience everything I've been doing. Because of that, on the personal side, I've definitely grown closer to my family. They inspire me, so when I start to work on my album I have some authentic material to go off of.

How did your work on Lemonade influence how you approached your own projects?

Lemonade taught me that there's no such thing as a finished song. When B's working, it's like a visual artist creating a painting—there's always another stroke, another coat that's added and makes it better. Young, new artists tend to want to rush things. We live in the internet era. We just want to get our work out there for the sake of the buzz, or for our fans' sake. Then, we're ready to move on to the next record. But working with B has taught me patience and how to put quality over quantity. She taught me not to be afraid to revisit old ideas, recreate them, and make them new again. She taught me that sometimes those are the best songs. I think that's why I can be patient in approaching my first full album. I've learned that masterpieces don't happen overnight.

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The album's nine Grammy nominations certainly argue that you all have a masterpiece on your hands with Lemonade. Songs on Lemonade have become feminist anthems. They've inspired courses and syllabi. They've pissed off police unions. Did you expect Lemonade to be as culturally impactful as it was?

I think everyone has high expectations of Beyoncé because we've seen what she's done previously, and she's so consistent. When I found out I made the album I was just humbled. I didn't sit down and think of all the different things that could happen afterwards, though. But you know what, Beyoncé is always breaking down barriers. For her to be a black woman, to consistently be so successful, and to use her voice to speak about culturally relevant subjects is not an easy thing to do. She had to think about the scrutiny that could come with [Lemonade], but she knew with her platform, that the sky was the limit. I hope in the future I can do some similar things.

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How does it feel to have contributed to a Grammy nominated album—this is now your second experience, right?How is this time different than the first?

This is the first time I've gotten a full placement on a Grammy nominated album, so it's a little bit more special for me. With the Beyoncé album, I virtually worked on the whole project, but I was more of an apprentice. I was really working under B and getting my feet wet, but none of my full songs made that album. However, my song 'Love Drought' was picked up for this record. Beyoncé got a hold of it, put her twist on it, and made it even better. It was just great to have my name in the credits as a writer.

'Love Drought' comes from a place of such pain and confusion, its anthemic of a difficult relationship. It was surprising to learn that it was actually about your relationship with record label executives, not with a significant other.

That's right. And it goes to show you how long people work on their records, because I actually worked on Love Drought in 2014. Later, the interview where I broke down the lyrics for Genius went viral and kind of created a bit of a controversy. I was a little mortified to be honest, because immediately people assumed I was talking about Beyoncé and who our label was in that moment. The staff is ever changing. It's not like I was sitting there dissing anyone who I or Beyoncé have to see every day. The record actually isn't even a diss, but the song was inspired by an encounter I had with people who used to work at the label. I'm very happy with Parkwood now. They're super supportive.

So how did Beyoncé react to the song when you presented it to her?

I never broke the lyrics down to her directly. Again, it wasn't something that was really about her. We had had conversations about witty songwriting and I know that that's one of the reasons that she signed me, because she likes the way that I interpret my feelings and turn them into witty records. So, when the interview hit, I was like "oh God, I hope B doesn't take this the wrong way." She's a manager and a friend.

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I had a show a couple days after the interview, and I sent her a message thanking her for helping me get my project out and the show put together…and I slid in there "yo by the way, please don't murder me." She replied and it was all love. She never ever said anything else to me about it. She's pretty—no, extremely—kind. She's laid back, she's not someone to trip about stuff. She appreciated me telling my truth as a songwriter.

What's are your favorite lines in 'Love Drought'? Which lines are unmistakably you?

Definitely "ten times out of nine I know you're lying." It's something I say when I'm talking trash. It was funny for it to be put into a song in a way that worked so well and tied in with the other lyrics. It's one of my catchphrases. Another "me" line is "you're my lifeline, think you're tryna kill me." At the time, that was a literal lyric for me. Being a new artist, newly signed to a label, you're kind of relying on them for everything. You don't know what you're doing, and of course you need their financial support. If you feel like you're not being paid attention to, you're like "yo, I'm a human over here! Are you trying to kill me? I'm trying to make a living!" I feel like that line is the realest line in the song, because I think that's how a lot of starving artists feel.

You brought up power of Beyoncé being a black woman and sharing the messages that she did with Lemonade. Now that we're living in "Trump's America," do you have plans to have political messaging in your upcoming album as well?

I do, but I feel like we also need to add some authentic love back into the equation. I want to bring back colorful records that just feel good—Chance the Rapper is doing a good job of that, for example. I'll definitely speak on relative issues, but my goal isn't to make an intense album. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Kirk Franklin, just trying to listen to a lot of positive stuff, stuff that's really musical. Artists and public figures, we control the public narrative, so I want to be able to put some positivity out into the world.